I’ll Never Forget That Day…
I’ll Never Forget That Day…
The doctor cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry… but I have bad news.”
He looked at my dad.
“You have cancer.”
In high school, my dad was an athlete.
An All-American football player.
Now he was sick.
Very sick.
Before long, he needed an oxygen machine just to breathe.
And he stayed that way…
for eight years.
Simple things became hard.
Walking.
Sleeping.
Getting up.
Eventually, he couldn’t climb the stairs.
He spent his final months in a hospital bed in the den.
One afternoon, Mom was in the kitchen.
She heard him gasping for air.
Ran into the den.
“Breathe, Paul! Breathe!”
But it was too late.
That night, the phone rang.
"I guess you know why I'm calling."
“Your father has passed away.”
I don’t want that ending.
Watching him go through that changed something in me.
Not all at once.
But enough.
I started paying attention.
Not trying to be perfect.
But not ignoring it anymore.
A friend of mine, Janice Gravely, went through something similar.
By her mid-70s, her health was getting worse.
Her family talked about hiring a full-time nurse.
She made a small change.
Nothing extreme.
Something she did every day.
Over time…
she didn't decline the way everyone expected.
She never needed that nurse.
And lived well into her 90s.
Janice Gravely at her art exhibit
That stuck with me.
Because I watched her health turn around.
Most people already know.
They should probably pay more attention to what they eat and drink.
Especially once they hit a certain age.
The problem is...
most people don’t stick with complicated.
I know I won’t.
So I started doing something simple.
Not perfect.
Not extreme.
Something I could actually stick with every day.
What I use is called BarleyLife Xtra.
Along with Peak Endurance.
It’s a drink made from fruits, vegetables, and young barley grass.
You mix it with water.
That’s pretty much it.
Takes less than a minute.
It tasted a little different to us at first.
My picky eater son thought so too.
One day he started mixing Peak Endurance with it while experimenting in the kitchen.
We both looked at each other and said,
“Hey… this actually tastes pretty good.”
Before long, it became part of his routine...
especially before basketball.
This is what it looks like at our house most days.
That’s it.
Nothing complicated.
Something we can stick with.
If this feels like something you’ve already been thinking about...
if you worry about being sick when you get older...
this will take you to the AIM site where our family orders from.
You’ll see my name at the top so you know you’re in the right place.
If you get stuck or have questions, you can always contact me here.